The 10 Most Expensive January Transfers in Serie A History

Outside of championship tournaments and the usual end-of-season tension, there is no more exciting time to be a soccer fan than during the madness of a transfer period. The transition of rumour to fact goes through a much less rigorous process in the media than it does the rest of the year, as hundreds of news organizations try to get the proverbial scoop on which star players will be switching sides. Speculation linking single players to multiple teams plays up the drama as the public collectively wonders where they end up. Though shorter than the summer window, the January transfer window gives teams the opportunity to fine tune their squads as they head into the second half of the season. In a sense, the January transfers are the last opportunity for the coaching staff to make substantial changes to the team before running out the season. It’s crucial that the business done in January be successful, since the outcome of a bad trade can sometimes sink the remainder of the season under disastrous circumstances.

The top flight of Italian soccer, Serie A, experiences a relatively tame transfer fee in comparison to the rest of the soccer world, as the Italian teams are traditionally slightly more hesitant to ‘splash the cash’. However, there certainly isn’t any lack of blockbuster trades, as our list detailing the ten most expensive transfers in Serie A will demonstrate. Much like anywhere in sport, the famous names come with the biggest price tags, which can only be paid for by the richest clubs. Don’t be surprised to see the same teams breaking the transfer records, particularly a certain northern Italian city famous for the rivalry between its two internationally known teams. With that being said, let’s get started and see who broke the bank post-Christmas to get their targeted player.

#10 Iván Córdoba – Transfer Fee: €14,000,000 ($19 million USD)

Inter Milan were in the market for a defender to play center back, but instead wound up with a team legend. When the Nerazurri purchased the Colombian Iván Córdoba from Argentinian team San Lorenzo de Almagro for €14,000,000 in 2000, they filled an existing gap while sparking a fortuitous relationship. Córdoba would spend the rest of his career at Inter, becoming vice-captain and a club legend until his retirement at the end of the 2011/2012 season.